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LOS ANGELES--It's been a big year for the people behind Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console, and its growing ecosystem. Month after month, the machine tops the console sales charts, and it boasts some of the most anticipated exclusive games in the industry.

This week, of course, the Xbox team is cheek-by-jowl with all of its partners and developers, and its competitors. It's E3 week, after all. And at its Monday media briefing, and at its mammoth booth at the Los Angeles Convention Center here, Microsoft has been touting its latest attempts at separating the Xbox from … Read more

I'm no shrinking violet when it comes to video game violence. I cut my teeth on Unreal Tournament, and I am a machine with a shotgun in Halo. But the bloody displays at Microsoft's and Sony's press conferences here at E3 left me horrified -- and depressed that an industry with so many challenges chose to offer so little to its existing and potentially new audiences.

Microsoft's Splinter Cell: Blacklist trailer was a mano-a mano murder fest (you need to enter your age just to watch it online), featuring multiple headshots that were helpfully slowed down, … Read more

LOS ANGELES--At the company's E3 2012 press conference, Sony let a collection of exclusive software and features do all the talking. Spread across the PlayStation 3 and Vita platforms, there was certainly an impressive display of thrilling -- and most importantly exclusive games that are only available on Sony's machines.

Getting things started was David Cage, the head of developer Quantic Dream, the house behind the PS3 story-driven success, Heavy Rain. Cage announced Beyond: Two Souls, the next title in the genre-redefining resume of games his studio has produced. Adding some star power to Beyond is actress Ellen Page, who plays the lead character in the new title. … Read more

LOS ANGELES--An earth-shaking and in-depth demo of Halo 4 opened up Microsoft's annual E3 Xbox 360 media briefing today, getting the thousands on hand worked up about the upcoming blockbuster. But beyond that, Microsoft had little to sustain the excitement.

For years, the video game press has flocked dutifully to Microsoft's shindig, which traditionally gets the honor of kicking off E3 week here, and setting the bar that rivals Sony and Nintendo have to try to jump at their own mega-briefings. This year those companies shouldn't be too worried about whether they can measure up.

While there … Read more

Google Voice users can now tweak their settings to screen unwanted callers in favor of family and friends.

Users of the call-forwarding service have apparently been asking for a way to handle callers not in their address book. And Google has answered that request, as detailed in a new blog.

Two new groups of callers are now available in the Google Voice settings menu -- people in your address book and anonymous callers.

You can customize the response received by people in your address book by setting a special voice mail greeting. You can also set a different greeting for … Read more

Google announced today that it's aiming to help users control their settings to more easily avoid answering those pesky anonymous callers on Google Voice. Be it an unknown, restricted, or blocked number, the Web giant says users can now fit those callers into one specified group.

"Many users have asked us for controls aimed at people who are NOT in their address book," Google software engineer Tom Ford wrote in a blog post. "So today, we're adding two groups of callers for Google Voice users."

Besides grouping anonymous callers into one group so users … Read more

We love Facebook pranks as much as the next guys, but not when it's coming from an anonymous source at Best Buy. As if we needed another reason not to step foot in the big blue retailer, we read this story about a Best Buy employee that posted a phony Facebook status update on a customer's phone. The message declared, "I am gay, I'm coming out," but there's one problem: the customer is straight.… Read more

Mark your calendars. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 explodes in stores on November 13 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 gaming systems.

Publisher Activision and developer Treyarch have revealed the next installment of the hugely popular first-person shooter with an enthralling new trailer that shows off the first fully futuristic Call of Duty game. Those ready to make the plunge can pre-order Black Ops 2, which costs the usual $59.99.

Set in the year 2025, the main story of Black Ops 2 revolves around the notion of a "21st Century Cold War."… Read more

Once upon a time, people saw primary care physicians -- and often in the comfort of their own homes. These "house calls" are rare enough today to conjure Rockwellian images of doctors with stethoscopes leaning over little Junior's sweaty brow.

While these intimate visits are largely a relic, the ability to reach a caregiver quickly is getting easier and more sophisticated thanks to video chat technology. And now, online care provider American Well is joining a burgeoning number of providers (TelaDoc, Hello Health, and 3G Doctor, to name a few) that are bringing their online services to mobile devices.… Read more